Bakers Challenge Dec 2009, Gingerbread House

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

This was of course great to complete because it brought me back to the days in elementary school when we used to make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. The house held up very well. I was sure to bake it a few minutes longer so it could harden a bit more. I used caramel to bond the pieces together which I think is a better choice then royal icing. The actual taste of the gingerbread is not spectacular because it's not the sweet taste we are all accustomed to in a cookie. I think however with a nice cup of tea it would make a nice accompaniment. Of cousr decorating it was purly fun and I had the chance to go to a candy store and pick out different kinds of candy which I NEVER do.

For the gingerbread I used Y's recipi. Click here for more details.

Let's play Catch up

Good times, weird times, it's great to be back.

I recently returned from my trip to Egypt. My primary reason for going wasn't R&R (although much needed). My younger brother Hamdy was getting married. I really was hesitant going because I did not want to travel while I was expecting. The idea of possibly catching swine flu sort of scared me since I opted not to get vaccinated. Luckily I went and returned unscathed, if anything my immune system got stronger working on overtime.

Being the baker I am, I always wished to create a magnificent cake for my family especially my brother. Unfortunately the oven in our apartment in Egypt is too small to bake, nor do I have the desire to take on such a task without my beloved Kitchen Aid and other worldly appliances. Okay I must admit I did not want to do anything remotely resembling work or be committed to any deadlines. The theme of my trip was to be LAZY and of course attend my brothers wedding. But again LAZY was my focus.

I did manage to bring over some of my tools so I could create the topper for the cake. I made certain main pieces from home in Virginia. The body was a piece of Styrofoam I grabbed from Micheals and shaped it into something resembling the body of a plane. I made the airplane pieces (wings, tail) and heads (of couple). I figured it would be really dumb and stressful carrying a completed topper with me overseas. It would mean that I need to take it as a carry on and I would have to guard it and care for it like my 4 year old child, maybe even closer. I wasn't thrilled with the idea so I said I will complete it in Alexandria when I get there.

Now I'm in the motherland and was I even thinking about the topper...No not really. I had some sleep to catch up on and family to see. I also managed to do a short trip to Sharm El Sheikh in the Red Sea with my son and father-in-law. I get back and find out this topper is due ASAP two days before the wedding. This leads me to pulling off an all nighter to complete the topper which at this point I am starting to hate. Why must I be rushed in my vacation, why is it wherever I go I have a deadline....anyway. Sun up, topper complete and I was very happy with the results. Of course the happiness of my family was what kept me going.

Overall the topper was awesome and the wedding was nice. Now a thing about cakes in Egypt.....

I know Egypt has a lot of European influence in their cakes, however wedding cakes as we know in the States blows away Egypt by far. They really don't do fondant there. It's mostly cream covered. The guests of the wedding do not eat the cake. Basically the brides family takes half and the grooms family takes the other half. My impression....The cake was covered in something marzipan like but it had no flavor. It was weird,not bad but really pointless. I think the cake must have been baked ahead of time and this substance was poured on top to seal in the moisture. The buttercream used on the cake was put on the cake very elementary. It did not look bad but it was different. I also had to bring gold dragees with me because it's not available there for some reason. They only have silver. In Egypt they also put this sparkler contraption on the cake like the 4th of July. I think Egypt, well at least Alexandria and for sure Cairo would be a great opportunity for a budding cake person. It would be a nice departure from what people typically see at weddings.

MACAROONS: Not the coconut ones :)

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.
THE DARING COOKS OCTOBER 2009 CHALLENGE: MACAROONS

I have always wanted to make these little treats. There are so many ways they could be flavored or colored. Of course since this was my first attempt I opted to go with a green (Very unnoticeable). I'm not sure what happened with that since I have seen macaroons with very vibrant colors. The filling is a simple ganache. One tip I could give that wasn't provided in the recipe is that it is best to use aged egg whites, which means let it sit either uncovered in the fridge or countertop (if it's not too hot). This allows the excess water to evaporate. Apparently moisture and macaroons don't go too well together.

Here is the recipe. I think it worked great.



Note: Macaroon making is somewhat labor intensive, yet simultaneously less difficult than you think it will be. One thing you must do is have your egg whites at room temperature. This ensures they beat up properly, as texture is an integral component to macaroons. You will be piping the batter onto parchment paper or nonstick liners, and some home bakers use stencils to make sure their macaroons are uniform in size. It’s your choice.
Be aware that you are beating your egg whites first to soft peaks. Soft peaks means that the peaks of the meringue curl over when you lift up the beaters. After you add the granulated sugar to the soft peak meringue, you will beat the mixture to stiff peaks, which, true to their name, stand straight up. Be careful not to overbeat your eggs.
You will also be folding the nut flour into the meringue. As with most recipes when you combine something with beaten egg whites, be gentle in your mixing to keep the egg whites light.
Some recipes call for drying the piped macaroons on the counter prior to baking for 30 minutes to an hour. This recipe stipulates that you bake the macaroons at a low temperature for 5 minutes, then take them out of the oven, raising the temperature, and baking them for an additional 7 to 8 minutes. Drying is necessary to get the trademark “feet” on your macaroons. Experiment to find the best technique for you.
If you plan on using parchment paper rather than nonstick pan liners, be careful when removing the macaroons from the paper, as they can stick and are very delicate. Some recipes suggest lifting up a corner of the paper and letting a drop of water fall onto the hot baking sheet, thus producing steam, which helps the macaroons release.
Variations allowed: Fleming’s recipe calls for almond flour, but you can grind the nuts yourself if you are feeling ambitious or can’t get a hold of almond flour. (It is available at many online sources, however.) If you do grind the nuts yourself, be sure to add at least a cup of the powdered sugar with the nuts before grinding. This keeps them from turning into almond butter. Grind the nuts as fine as possible in your food processor. Maida Heatter suggests grinding nuts for at least 60 seconds, or longer than you think you need. They need to be extremely fine—powdery, in fact, like flour. If using almonds, try and hunt down blanched or skinned almonds. This helps with the texture and color. You might also consider toasting your nuts ahead of time and rubbing off the skins in some clean toweling.
If you’d like to use a different nut besides almonds, you are welcome to substitute them. Hazelnuts or pecans are good substitutes, but feel free to experiment with others. Our own Helen, of Tartlette fame, suggests that if you do want to use a different nut other than almonds, to have half almond, half other nut, as almonds are drier than other nuts and help again with that all-important texture. If you have a nut allergy, you can make nutless meringue cookies sandwiched with a filling, but it would be great if you could attempt to obtain the size and shape of standard macaroons.
Flavor variations are, as I said, infinite. In Fleming’s original recipe, she calls for adding vanilla bean seeds to the granulated sugar, and folds in the zest of a lemon to make lemon macaroons. You can add cocoa powder, instant coffee or espresso powder, green tea powder, fruit zests. You can tint the batter (Helen again suggests using powdered food coloring to keep from adding too much moisture to the batter). The same goes for fillings—anything goes. Ganache, buttercream, jam, caramel, custard. Here in L.A., there is place called Milk (http://www.themilkshop.com/) that bakes extra large macaroons and makes them into delicious ice cream sandwiches. You must make at least one filling, preferably from scratch, but what that filling will be is entirely up to you.
An important note about coloring and flavoring: liquid food coloring can be used, but be cautious! Use 1-3 drops maximum, otherwise, according to Helen, it increases the moisture in the batter, and that can ruin the macaroons. She suggests one trick: mix the liquid color with the almonds and powdered sugar and to let that air dry for a couple of hours. This reduced the moisture a little bit. If you use more than 3 drops of food coloring, you’re going to have a disaster. That means using fruit puree is out. One way to flavor the macaroons is to use 1-2 teaspoons of citrus zest, 1-2 teaspoons of matcha (green tea powder), or 1-2 teaspoons of herbs or freeze-dried fruit powders. If you want savory macaroons, you can try 1 teaspoon of saffron or other savory dry flavorings. If you want to use powdered color, Helen says that up to 1 tablespoon is a safe amount.
To summarize:
Mandatory:-Make Claudia Fleming’s recipe for macaroons-Fill and sandwich the macaroons
Optional:-Flavor variations and decoration-If you have a nut allergy, find a good nutless meringue cookie recipe but you must make them into cookie sandwiches with some kind of filling
If you are vegan, I don’t know what you can use as an egg substitute. Suggestions are welcome.
Preparation time: Not taking into account the amount of time it takes for you to bring your egg whites to room temperature, the whole baking process, including making the batter, piping and baking will probably take you about an hour to an hour and a half. How long it takes to make your filling is dependent on what you choose to make.
Actual baking time: 12 minutes total, plus a few minutes to get your oven from 200°F to 375°F.
Equipment required:• Electric mixer, preferably a stand mixer with a whisk attachment• Rubber spatula• Baking sheets• Parchment paper or nonstick liners• Pastry bag (can be disposable)• Plain half-inch pastry bag tip• Sifter or sieve• If you don’t have a pastry bag and/or tips, you can use a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off• Oven• Cooling rack• Thin-bladed spatula for removing the macaroons from the baking sheets• Food processor or nut grinder, if grinding your own nuts (ouch!)

Ingredients
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.
Yield: 10 dozen. Ami's note: My yield was much smaller than this. I produced about two dozen filled macaroons.

Hawaii Bridal Shower Cake

A Hawaiian themed cake for a bridal shower. The lucky couple was honeymooning n Hawaii, hence the luau laid back theme. This was a very simple cake however the bride loved the details added especially the heart with the couples initials on it.

Daring Bakers Challeng #1

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Today I had my first attempt at a wonderful pastry. Vols-au-Vent is a puff pastry very similar to a croissant or danish. I think the difference here is that the Vols-au-vent does not use any yeast. I could be wrong since the only croissants I have dished out from my oven are the ones that come in metal cylinders :)

This was absolutely delicious and heavenly. I don't think I can buy the frozen stuff again from the supermarket after tasting this. There is no turning back at this point. Due to the versatility of the "Puff" I also incorporated a savory dish because I'm not all about sweets all the time.

My first puff was a classic lightly sweetened fresh whipped cream with strawberry's. I added some powdered sugar over the puff to give sweetness to it. The puff alone is not sweet.


For my savory Vols-au-vent I have a braised lamb roast sliced thinly with a Moroccan inspired sauce consisting of dried apricots and prunes that were slow cooked with the lamb.

Baby Showers

This cake was many celebrations and memories combined into one. Everything in this cake is edible. I was surprised that I did not have to support the crib with skewers. I made some modeling paste to use for the crib. My turnaround time was tight for this cake but the modeling paste dried fast so I could start assembling the crib pieces. Frogs and ladybugs were the theme for this cake. The cake is a moist yellow cake with a delicious merengue icing. I think the frog looking up at me is just to cute...I just want to say awww.

Mini Cooper Cake Old School

I had the opportunity recently to do a classic mini cooper cake for a customer. The cake is chocolaty chocolate goodness. The filling was an Italian Merengue, which I think is the most stable, best tasting buttercream ever. The model she gave me did not have the mini cooper emblem we are all familiar with. The emblem on the hood was more of a square of some sorts. I had to add the wings for some type of mini cooper recognition. To get the silver color all I did was color my vanilla fondant gray and paint over it with nu silver dust with lemon extract.